Sat 5th April - London to Brighton 2 (Curse-free)

I am also wondering about gearing. I am more used to riding 48:17. I have been riding 48:18 the last couple of weeks getting used to a low gear for the hill. But I don't like it as much. I seemed better suited to the slightly higher gear. So I guess it is a trade-off between whether I want to get up the hill with relative ease, but be spinning a bit higher than I would like. Or go with my preferred gear and 'struggle'? up this hill. I mean how hard is this hill anyway?

It's this hard: [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ditchling_Beacon[/ame]

I am also wondering about gearing. I am more used to riding 48:17. I have been riding 48:18 the last couple of weeks getting used to a low gear for the hill. But I don't like it as much. I seemed better suited to the slightly higher gear. So I guess it is a trade-off between whether I want to get up the hill with relative ease, but be spinning a bit higher than I would like. Or go with my preferred gear and 'struggle'? up this hill. I mean how hard is this hill anyway?

With 48:18 you won't struggle to keep up. But you might be thankful for it on Ditchling.

you should be fine, depending on how you do in the city

i rode down there last time on 42 x 16 which is 69" and i think i was the lowest, i did fine, if its what you ride normally then you probably have a higher cadence than others so you should be cool

Thanks for the comment. I've been riding this 71" combination for a while in the city, but I'm still thinking of maybe going up one notch to 74 or 75". From what I gathered in that Wikipedia article, Ditchling Beacon is only about a mile long. Assuming the rest of the ride is pretty flat, I think I'd rather have the higher gearing, and suffer for that one stretch...

From Wikipedia: "Close to Ditchling Beacon is a small spur known as Blackdog Hill, which is reputedly haunted by a headless black dog."

Night ride, perhaps?

this is not a night ride, its on country roads so no street lights, its already hard enough as it is

oh and suffering that one stretch, don't forget turners hill, or the other one i forgot the name of

this is not a night ride, its on country roads so no street lights, its already hard enough as it is

oh and suffering that one stretch, don't forget turners hill, or the other one i forgot the name of

You actually forgot the name of ditchling beacon?

1. Lucky 7
   
2. Jonny
   
3. FatboyRalph
   
4. Cornelius Blackfoot
   
5. Mikec
   
6. Dogsballs
   
7. 50:14
   
8. 63:11 brakelessrider
   
9. PJ (48:17, not geared, but wishes he was)
   
10. Villa-Ru
    
11. slamm
    
12. Object (No one riding 50*14 is coming anywhere near me this time)
    
13. Flickwg (Object will ensure his attendance) (i only just noticed this)
    
14. Photoben
    
15. dt (if it's a saturday)
    16: xsheepx (if it's not saturday the 5th, can do the 12 or 19th tho)
    
16. Andy
    
17. dave4
    
18. illy
    
19. somebody
    
20. Mongrel 48:18
    
21. IanF
    
22. Splatbucket
    
23. atk
    
24. JimL
    
25. Aroogah
    

I'm in - will look to join in the Wandsworth/Trinity Road/Balham area, so confirmation of route and ETD would be appreciated

You actually forgot the name of ditchling beacon?

no i meant the one at the beginning, it took me by surprise

no i meant the one at the beginning, it took me by surprise

That might have been Whyteleafe Hill.

That might have been Whyteleafe Hill.

That'd be the one. The only reason any one struggle on that was because we got to the bottom doing about 5 miles an hour.
At a normal pace you're 3/4 of the way up before you start realising you're on a hill.

i'm not going to go on this ride.

i can't be arsed to ride fixed to brighton when it's infinitely more enjoyable on a half-decent geared bicycle.

i'm not going to go on this ride.

i can't be arsed to ride fixed to brighton when it's infinitely more enjoyable on a half-decent geared bicycle.
marshmellow!!

i'm not going to go on this ride.

i can't be arsed to ride fixed to brighton when it's infinitely more enjoyable on a half-decent geared bicycle.

Come geared then. I'm sure no one will mind.

i'm not going to go on this ride.

i can't be arsed to ride fixed to brighton when it's infinitely more enjoyable on a half-decent geared bicycle.

Come geared then. I'm sure no one will mind.

come on lake of darkness, haven't been on a ride (pnah pnah) with you in ages apart from the social ride where i fell off in sympathy when someone else came a cropper, I think a couple of others will be geared as well

hmmmph.

2 Attachments

Ok. I want to do this ride and have the option of fixed 44x18 or geared Hybrid (and am of an age that gears are acceptable and I'm not slow on this bike) would love to do it fixed but don't want to bore others by holding them back, or spinning wildly.
I understand the current start to be Wellington arch 08:00 am Saturday, is this correct?
I see the majority are going fixed. How many are going geared??
Stu

1. Lucky 7
   
2. Jonny
   
3. FatboyRalph
   
4. Cornelius Blackfoot
   
5. Mikec
   
6. Dogsballs
   
7. 50:14
   
8. 63:11 brakelessrider
   
9. PJ (48:17, not geared, but wishes he was)
   
10. Villa-Ru
    
11. slamm
    
12. Object (No one riding 50*14 is coming anywhere near me this time)
    
13. Flickwg (Object will ensure his attendance) (i only just noticed this)
    
14. Photoben
    
15. dt (if it's a saturday)
    16: xsheepx (if it's not saturday the 5th, can do the 12 or 19th tho)
    
16. Andy
    
17. dave4
    
18. illy
    
19. somebody
    
20. Mongrel 48:18
    
21. IanF
    
22. Splatbucket
    
23. atk
    
24. JimL
    
25. Aroogah
    
26. ornmnt
    

seems like there should be quite a good number of riders. From those that have done it before on fixed, how long do people think it will take (just roughly) as gf want's to meet up in brighton after and she needs a time lol.

If noone punctures or crashes and you don't get lost or stop to regroup or eat food or rest and everyone canes it up Ditchling then about 4 hours.
Took us 7 last time if memory serves. I think Hippy's supercomputer had us at 4 hours riding, 3 hours stopped.

mmm, need to borrow some road bars and short stem if i'm going to ride the polo bike, my source has sold his bike :(

otherwise its the black stallion 45:18

with very little stops, you can do it in just under 4hrs. with a big group, could be anywhere between 5-8hrs.

1. Lucky 7
   
2. Jonny
   
3. FatboyRalph
   
4. Cornelius Blackfoot
   
5. Mikec
   
6. Dogsballs
   
7. 50:14
   
8. 63:11 brakelessrider
   
9. PJ (48:17, not geared, but wishes he was)
   
10. Villa-Ru
    
11. slamm
    
12. Object (No one riding 50*14 is coming anywhere near me this time)
    
13. Flickwg (Object will ensure his attendance) (i only just noticed this)
    14. Photoben
    
14. dt (if it's a saturday)
    16: xsheepx (if it's not saturday the 5th, can do the 12 or 19th tho)
    
15. Andy
    
16. dave4
    
17. illy
    
18. somebody
    
19. Mongrel 48:18
    
20. IanF
    
21. Splatbucket
    
22. atk
    
23. JimL
    
24. Aroogah
    
    

Cannea go now, got some business...

route, route, route.

brett, you got that route sheet from last time. when i did it last week i got lost and ended up seeing a lot more of the A23 than i intended. or does anyone know that route off the top of their head.

we gots to get organasized.